Learn How to Reduce a Fraction in Seven Minutes! Where was that YouTube video when I was a dopey elementary math student decades ago? Oh, that it was that easy. Seven minutes? Seven years may be closer to accurate! Let’s see if my memory serves: list all the factors of the numerator and denominator (the top and bottom numbers for those of us in the I’m-not-math-savvy club), find the greatest common factor (the biggest number that will divide into both), divide the top and bottom numbers by that number, check your work, then continue daydreaming about anything that doesn’t involve math. As a humorous bit of kismet, I would later find myself on the other side of the equation (note mathematical reference), teaching my own wiggly, somewhat uninterested, students the intricate process of fraction reduction, trying desperately to find some hands-on teaching aid to flip a switch in their young brains, convincing them that unless they gained a comprehension of this vital mathematical concept, they would have no foundation on which to build.
As I read through the Bible, I am sometimes overwhelmed by all that is contained in those blessed pages, so many instructions, so many areas of my life that need correction, so much to learn. But as I delve deeply into the lives of the men and women who have accomplished a work for their God, who have been successful, I find one common trait, one common denominator: obedience.
When Moses ascended into Mount Sinai to receive the Law from the hands of an almighty God, I wonder if he was aware at the time how incredibly intricate that Law would be. Dietary laws, ceremonial laws, commandments regulating individual, civil, and religious conduct. When Moses “came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments;” they had this reply: “All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.”
There we have expected response to the hearing of God’s Word reduced to the simplest form: If God says something, I will do it. No other options exist. Of course, Israel would fail miserably in their promise of obedience, as we do at times. That’s why the death of the Lawgiver was required, for He alone was perfect and free of sin. But if we want to experience success in our daily lives, we must strive to share the psalmist’s words when he says, “I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.” As you spend time in His Word today, search your life for those clear areas where God is speaking to you and saying, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Lord, obedience is crucial if I want to please You. Help me daily to submit to Your authority, and help me to be willing to confess when I fall short of that obedience.